Blushing Blue
by Verimas
Summary: After a recently divorced queen comes to visit Arendelle, Elsa has to confront feelings she's done her best to conceal. Set between the first and second movie. A fluffy, gay romance story.
1. Tidying up

Queen Maribel was due to arrive in an hour, and Elsa was nervous.

All week long the snow queen had made an extra effort to help clean the castle. At first, this had only offended the sweet old maid who'd been in charge of housework for years. Elsa would trail behind her with her own dust cloth, vigorously polishing candlesticks and vases that were already spotless. At odd hours of the night, she could be found on the ladder scrubbing nonexistent bits of dirt in high places.

The poor housemaid was bending over backwards trying to stay one step ahead of her boss, but Elsa never once asked her directly to increase her efforts or reclean a room. She just quietly drifted through the halls with a glassy look in her eyes, stopping every so often to attack a piece of furniture with the feather duster or a section of the floor with the mop.

After a while, the maid accepted that the Queen wasn't trying to passive aggressively criticize her work, but simply needed a way to take her mind off of the diplomatic meeting that was rapidly approaching. The palace staff wasn't entirely sure why their leader was so on edge, and they all came to the same general conclusion: Queen Elsa and Queen Maribel must have some extremely important items to discuss during their meeting.

The palace staff made sure to do their duties with extra care that week.

* * *

"Elsaaaaa!"

The Queen jumped and knocked over the vase of flowers that she was carefully arranging. Thankfully, she managed to freeze the water that poured out before it hit the floor. It became an oddly shaped icicle that she swiped out of the air before it hit the floor and shattered.

_I'm so high strung today._

"Anna, don't startle me like that," she snapped, glaring at the icicle in her hands.

"Looks like _someone _woke up on the wrong side of the bed!" Anna said cheerfully. She took the icicle and pretended to use it as a trumpet. "Doo do do doooo! Presenting, her royal highness, Queen Maribel of Santa Terraza!"

Elsa blanched.

"What? No, she's not due for an hour and the food isn't quite ready - at least, I don't think it is - and I still need to get some more water for these fl -"

"Whoa, sis! I was kidding!" Anna put her arm around her sister's shoulders, nearly throwing the poor woman off balance. Elsa was significantly taller, especially the high heeled boots she'd chosen to wear. "Be the queen of ice I know you are and chill out a little!"

Elsa sighed and avoided her sister's raised eyebrows. This was an important meeting. All meetings with royalty from the neighboring kingdoms were important! It was perfectly normal to get the jitters beforehand, right?

"You've got this. Everything is going to be just fine! Queen Maribel _loves _you. You know that."

Elsa blushed in her own unique way, with a whisper of frost blooming over her cheeks. Instead of the usual pink flush, she turned a faint shade of purple. The queen figured it was from the combination of blue ice and the red blood rushing to her face. Sometimes her ears turned purple as well. It was quite embarrassing.

"I suppose we are on particularly good terms with Queen Maribel and her kingdom…"

"Oh please, the last time she came we had pineapple and mango every day for a week. Remember that beautiful raft she brought Olaf? He still hasn't stopped talking about that one."

It was true, there was no shortage of lavish gifts every time Queen Maribel came around. Her kingdom was basically the polar opposite of Arendelle - full of strange tropical plants and beautiful white sand beaches. The gifts reflected this environment. There was a lot of exotic fruit involved. Secretly, Elsa was hoping that she'd bring some more of this exquisite chocolate. It had something special in it. What was it called… maybe coconut? Either way, it was delicious.

Olaf really wanted to visit Santa Terraza sometime. He all but worshipped the foreign queen.

"Speaking of Olaf, does he have his bowtie on?" Elsa glanced at her sister's outfit. "Why don't you put on your coronation dress? Something a little more formal? Is Kristoff joining us tonight? I need to tell the kitchen staff if he is."

"Don't get your bloomers in a bunch, I'm going to change before I come down to say hi. Kristoff is out ice harvesting tonight, so he won't make it. I'll probably pass on dinner too." Anna grinned. "It looks like it'll just be you and the Queen."

Elsa cleared her throat. "Very well then, I'll inform the kitchen."

"You heard about King Luis, right?"

Elsa's eyebrows shot up. "No, I can't say that I have?"

King Luis didn't often accompany his wife to Arendelle. Maribel mentioned once how he disliked travel due to frequent bouts of seasickness. This coupled with his hatred of cold weather resulted in only two trips to the chilly kingdom, both in the middle of summer and neither for more than a couple of days.

Personally, Elsa didn't care much for King Luis. Maribel's bright, bubbly personality was dulled considerably whenever she was in the company of her more serious husband. He always gave her sharp looks if she cracked a joke or led the conversation away from strict business. Their relationship had an odd dynamic that seemed more like a disapproving father and a free-spirited child instead of husband and wife. Maribel never seemed happy when she was with him.

"They finalized their divorce a few months ago. I don't think it's been made public yet, so don't mention it. Apparently it's been going on for a long, long time now. The process was super complicated and involved signing lots of official documents." Anna mimed scribbling her signature on an imaginary paper. "Just don't bring it up. It might not even be true, but Kristoff heard it through one of his ice harvesting sources. Santa Terraza has a lot of demand for ice."

Elsa was so stunned that she could only nod in response. A divorce! That was very uncommon among royals. She hoped that Maribel was okay. No wonder they looked like such an unhappy couple.

Anna skipped away with the vase-water icicle.

"I'll give this to Olaf, I'm sure he'll think it's cool!"

* * *

The remaining 45 minutes flew by. Elsa put the finishing touches on her makeup and ironed her suit once more before finally putting it on. She'd decided on this outfit over a dress for many different reasons, the most prominent being that Maribel often remarked on how she thought Elsa's choice to wear suits was very classy and sent a great message to the kingdom. The day before she mulled over which jacket to lend to Maribel, since she was perpetually dressed for summer and always got cold in Arendelle. The nights were quickly getting chilly, and winter was just around the corner.

Elsa hung the jacket on her bedroom door for easy access if (when) Maribel would ask for it. She wanted to make sure her guest was comfortable. Arendelle was known for its hospitality, after all.

The dinner table was set, there was a warm fire crackling, the candles were lit… everything was in place. All she had to do was wait.

Elsa sat in the big armchair nearest to the door and practiced a new trick that she'd recently discovered. If she manipulated a loosely packed ball of ice crystals in just the right way, she could make them dance and flicker, just like fire. The result was something that looked exactly like a blue flame, only if you passed your hand through it, you'd feel the sharp bite of frost instead of the dull ache of heat.

Every day her powers grew stronger and her skills became more refined. It was hard but gratifying work. She was excited to show Maribel the latest development. All of the other royals had mostly warmed up to the idea of her ice powers, but Maribel showed the most excitement by far.

Everyone else was polite, but Elsa couldn't help but feel like they were constantly formulating a strategy just in case of war. She couldn't really blame them. Deep down, Elsa knew that she'd only ever use her powers for good, but how were the others supposed to know that? Trust was hard to build, and only seeing the other royals in brief visits that were few and far between didn't really allow for any friendships to grow.

Maribel was different, though. She'd offered a type of support to Elsa that could only be matched by Anna, who'd been cheering her sister on since birth.

Elsa didn't really know why the other queen seemed to care so much about her. They were acquaintances at best. Perhaps she was that way with everyone.

The snow queen was balancing ten fire-flames on each one of her fingers when there was a knock at the door. Each flame burst into a tiny snow flurry with a small pop, and Elsa launched herself out of the armchair.

"Good afternoon, q-"

"HI!" Olaf flung himself into Elsa's legs and hugged her knees vigorously. "It's Olaf! I'm ready for dinner! Well, not dinner because I can't eat but you already knew that!"

Elsa couldn't help but deflate just a little.

"Hello, Olaf. I'm glad you could make it."

She smiled when she saw his crooked little ice bow tie. With an almost imperceptible twitch of her right hand, the bow tie straightened itself.

"I brought some dandelion fuzzies for Queen Maribel. I thought maybe we could all blow them out together on the balcony! It will be just like summer, but in the middle of fall!"

"That's a wonderful idea Olaf." Elsa collected the handful of weeds from him and tried not to dislodge any more of the fluffy seeds. They already looked a bit bedraggled, probably from Olaf swinging them around on his way over.

"Are you excited to see her?" He shimmied from side to side. "I know I am! I can't wait to hear all the stories about dolphins and crabs and, oh, what were they called? Pork-pies-is?"

"Pork-pies-is?" Elsa trailed off, her mind sifting through all the descriptions of Santa Terraza that she'd heard from Maribel. "Oh! You mean porpoises."

"Yes!" Olaf laughed and jumped with glee. "So many porpoises!"

"Olaf!" Anna called from the top of the stairs. "Can you help me with my hair for just a second?"

He gave one last hug to Elsa's knees.

"Sorry Elsa, but duty calls! I promise to come back later, after I help Anna!"

She watched the little snowman scurry up the stairs, leaving wet footprints (snowprints?) on each step. Elsa loved the little snowman, but she was relieved to have him out of her hair at for the time being. Waiting for Queen Maribel was stressful enough by herself.

Anna caught her eye right before she walked off with Olaf. Her sister gave her a conspiratorial wink.

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut and turned back towards the door.

* * *

Thankfully, Queen Maribel arrived only a few moments after that.

Elsa could see her thin frame, slightly distorted through the skinny frosted glass window set in the middle of the door. She didn't give herself any more time to overthink before grabbing the handle and turning.

The result was the door being wrenched open quite aggressively. It banged against the wall and Elsa winced, face already blushing purple.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to- uh, well, hello! And welcome. Welcome back!" Elsa stammered.

_Come on, Elsa! We practiced! _She admonished herself.

The woman on the doorstep was grinning, and didn't seem to take any notice of her host's blunder.

Queen Maribel looked gorgeous. She was wearing a red dress with colorful embroidery and puffy sleeves. The skirt was long and ruffled at the end, swaying in the breeze as if she'd just finished dancing with a dramatic twirl. Her black hair curled over her shoulders and spilled down her back like tree roots anchoring themselves to the earth.

Elsa took a sharp breath.

Maribel was so out of place on her doorstep, but not in a bad way. The colors in her outfit contrasted sharply with the bleak landscape of Arendelle in autumn. Everything was already so cold and gray, but Maribel was summer personified. Her glowing olive skin seemed to coax extra sunshine right through the cracks of the gray clouds overhead.

"Hello, Elsa!"

The snow queen's eyes were drawn to the movement of Maribel's pink lips. A flash of light catching in the sticky gloss winked at her. Elsa wondered faintly if whatever she had put on them was coconut flavored.

Maribel barreled into Elsa not unlike Olaf had done only moments before. She certainly _smelled _like coconut, Elsa noticed.

"Hello," Elsa said once more, this time into the dark mass of curls. Maribel was quite short. She only came up to Elsa's shoulders.

The queen heard Maribel laugh gently, a musical sound like the ocean sighing.

"Oh!" Elsa pulled away abruptly and Maribel almost toppled over. She quirked an eyebrow and her lips caught the sun once again as she smirked at the pale, odd woman.

Elsa looked shyly at Maribel.

"_Te gustaria unirte a mi para cenar?_" She recited the phrase slowly, with a horrendous accent that she was well aware of. Elsa had been practicing Spanish, the language of Santa Terraza, for months in anticipation of this coming visit.

Maribel clapped her hands in delight and laughed again. "_Por supuesto, guapa! El placer es mio._"

"Okay," Elsa was pleased with her reaction, "But what does '_guapa_' mean?"

Maribel gave her a mischievous grin.

"It means 'good-looking.'"

Elsa was thankful for the moment she took to close the door. She had to swipe a thick layer of frost off of her cheeks before Maribel noticed.


	2. Cheers

**A/N: Hello everyone, it's been a hot minute since I've used so I'm sorry if this formatting is atrocious. It's also been a while since I've written anything substantial, so my writing might sound a bit rusty as well. Bear with me here!**

**Constructive criticism is appreciated! Thanks for reading.**

* * *

Maribel chatted with Anna and Olaf for a short while. Honestly, Elsa was thankful her sister and the little snowman were there. It gave her a moment to catch her breath while the spotlight was on someone else.

However, after about twenty minutes Anna gave Olaf a pointed look and the little snowman gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"I think I'd better turn in now!" Anna sniffled, "I've started to feel a little under the weather today, and I need all the rest I can get."

"Oh no!" Olaf threw his stick hands up in the air. "I'd better take care of you, Anna!"

"I understand completely," Maribel smiled. "I hope you feel better, Anna. Goodbye, Olaf. We'll talk more about the seagulls next time!"

The pair scurried up the stairs, barely concealing their muffled giggling. It was just Elsa and Maribel once again.

"Shall we?" Maribel glanced in the direction of the dining room. "I'm famished from such a long journey."

"Of course! I'll let the kitchen know to start bringing out our meal."

They sat across from each other in front of the delicious roast chicken that the chef had prepared.

"What would you like to drink? We have water, milk, tea, coffee, hot glog…" Elsa rattled off a list of a few more beverages.

Maribel mulled over the options and pursed her lips.

"What?" Elsa cast a searching look in her direction. "Is there something else you'd like, or perhaps I can send someone to the market to find whatever it is if we don't currently have-"

"Shhhh, it's not that, Elsa." Maribel stared at her plate. "It's always business, business, business, you know?"

Elsa was perplexed. "I suppose, after all this is a business dinner…?"

"It is, but… it doesn't have to be."

Elsa felt something flip in her stomach. She couldn't tell if it was excitement or apprehension. Probably both.

"What do you mean?"

The other queen was looking at her reflection in the back of the spoon. She pushed a curl back into place.

"Why don't we just have fun tonight, and leave the business for tomorrow? Maybe we can just have dinner as friends, instead of royals. Does that make sense?"

"Well, perhaps…"

"Think about it! It's just us at this 'meeting,'" Maribel accentuated the last word with air quotes, "I'm so tired from traveling that I feel like my head's barely on straight as it is. I'm no good for business tonight. Let's just talk? Completely off the record?"

Elsa smiled.

"I suppose there's no harm in that."

"I won't tell if you won't," Maribel giggled. "Now that that's settled, do you have any wine here?"

"Wine? Oh yes, we have wine."

"What's your favorite kind?"

Elsa fiddled with a button on her shirt. "I don't really drink a lot of wine, I'll be honest…"

"That's okay," she smiled encouragingly. "I'll make it easier: do you like red or white more?"

Elsa combed her fingers through her hair and avoided Maribel's eyes. "Um, how about white?"

Truth be told, Elsa had never tried wine or any other type of alcohol for that matter. Anna drank sometimes with Kristoff, but Elsa was too scared. At first she was terrified of losing control of her powers while under the influence. But, even now that she was basically an expert in the art of wielding ice, she'd never raided her parent's old wine cellar. She usually played the role of Mom, since Anna had a habit of going a bit too hard on the spiked hot glog.

Maybe she just felt too self conscious to drink, she hadn't given it much thought. But Elsa felt emboldened tonight with Maribel. The other queen was right! It was always business, business, business. They both deserved a night of good fun.

Dag, the chef, came out with a steaming pot of lutefisk.

"Dag! Perfect timing. Would you mind bringing us a bottle of white wine from the cellar?"

Dag's eyebrows shot up, and he made a face like a wary father.

"White wine tonight, hmm?"

Elsa thanked him silently for not mentioning the fact that this would be her first drink ever. She didn't want Maribel to think that she was boring or, even worse, eschew the alcohol for fear of making her uncomfortable. Elsa was warming up to the idea.

"What kind of white wine, your majesty?"

Elsa hesitated, and Maribel jumped in.

"Whatever would pair the best with this delicious meal, Chef Dag."

Dag beamed in spite of himself. He loved Maribel. She was the only royal who exchanged more than a few words with him. During her last visit, they had a heated conversation about what spices season fish the best. Voices were raised and insults were thrown in both languages, but Maribel seemed to understand the passionate language of chefs. It was all in good fun and the conversation ended with belly laughs and a kiss on each cheek.

"As you wish, my queens," Dag bowed with a dramatic flourish and Maribel laughed.

As soon as he left, Maribel leaned forward and patted Elsa's hand.

"I think I really needed this. Time alone with a friend, and a night to just relax. Things have been a little… hectic at home. This visit came at a great time."

Elsa wondered if she was alluding to the divorce, but she didn't dare ask.

"I feel the same way. Almost my entire life was spent under a lot of stress, sometimes I don't think I even know how to relax."

"Relaxation is my kingdom's specialty, so one of these days you're going to have to come visit and I'll show you how to _really_ let your hair down." Maribel's eyes flickered to Elsa's braid.

"I'd like that… I'm sorry I haven't made a trip there yet. I'm still working up the courage to travel."

Elsa didn't get a lot of invitations to other kingdoms. The other royals were afraid of her unleashing another eternal winter.

"It's okay, _querida. _All in good time," Maribel was already halfway through her plate. She really was famished! "Hey, how did you learn that Spanish? It wasn't half bad!"

"Oh! I met a villager who's father is from your kingdom, and she knows the language. I've been taking private lessons from her."

"All for little old me?" Marbiel waggled her eyebrows as she shoveled another forkful of broccoli into her mouth.

"I-I just think that learning about the languages and cultures of other places can only strengthen business relations," Elsa spluttered. She actually knew quite a few languages. When she was a child, there wasn't a whole lot to do besides study.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't know your language. Just English and Spanish." She looked sheepish.

"No, it's okay! I can teach you, if you want."

At that moment, Dag returned with their bottle of wine.

"I think I've picked a good one," he winked at Maribel, and she blew him a kiss.

He filled their glasses and then marched back into the kitchen. Elsa wondered what he had prepared for dessert.

Maribel raised her glass.

"Cheers to a stress-free, business-free night!"

"Cheers," Elsa said as they clinked glasses.

Maribel took a sip and her eyes widened.

"Wow, this wine is really good!" She grabbed the bottle and gasped. "Oh, Elsa, this must be worth a fortune! You didn't have to break open your special occasion wine for me!"

Elsa had definitely not been saving that wine. She took a sip and was barely able to stop herself from making a face. _This _was what exceptionally good wine tasted like? It was so… sour. But as the wine settled into her stomach, she felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through her body. Kind of like the way she felt when Maribel smiled at her.

"This _is _a special occasion! I don't often have dinner with a friend, unless you count my sister and her boyfriend."

The wine wasn't wasn't half bad. She took another drink.

At first, Maribel monopolized the conversation. Elsa didn't really mind. She could listen to story after story about Santa Terraza for hours.

However, as the bottle of Chardonnay disappeared and the laughter increased, Elsa began to open up a little bit more.

"And- and then I had to crawl out of the lake, soaking wet, and pretend like nothing was wrong!"

Elsa had just finished a story about how she was practicing running on water using her ice powers, but slipped and fell right next to the dock. Maribel was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

"I'd completely forgotten that they were going to christen the new boat that day. The whole town had showed up! I climbed up onto the dock during the middle of the speech, addressed the crowd, and walked past everyone. The worst part was that my clothes were soaked and I wasn't exactly wearing anything underneath," Elsa drained her glass. "For running purposes, and such."

"You're kidding!" Maribel snorted. "That is so embarrassing."

"Yuppity yup," Elsa slurred, "The whole town saw my…" She gestured vaguely to herself.

"Jesus, I don't know what I would've done in that situation. Maybe I'd have said something like, "Ahem, my eyes are up _here."_

"Elsa giggled like a schoolgirl. "You're funny. So funny. You make me laugh."

Maribel raised an eyebrow.

"How many glasses of wine do you usually drink? You're pretty sloshed, _querida._"

"Am I?" Elsa dragged her finger around the rim of her wine glass, leaving a thin layer of frost. She didn't really know what drunk was supposed to feel like, but right now she felt very warm and flowy, like melted chocolate. Mmmm, chocolate. "I don't know how many I usually drink"

"What do you mean?"

"'Cause I never have."

"You've never drank before?" Maribel looked shocked. "Not even once? Not even a sip from your parent's glass when you were little?"

"Nope. Not even a drop. Drop, drop, drop." She ended her sentence with a loud hiccup.

Maribel put her hand over her mouth and regarded the woman sitting across from her with a mixture of awe and affection.

"Why don't you drink the rest of your water?"

Instead, Elsa tipped the rest of the bottle into her glass. Maribel grabbed it before she could take a sip. The snow queen protested loudly.

"I think I'm going to have to cut you off, _querida. _You've had more than enough and I think you're going to start tomorrow with a nasty headache if you drink any more."

"Okay," Elsa hiccuped again. She could see that most of the palace staff was gathered in the kitchen. They kept peering around the corner to catch glimpses of their tipsy queen. She didn't care. Maybe she should offer them some wine too.

Maribel had also noticed that they were on display.

"Do you want to go upstairs? Maybe we could sit out on the balcony and I could finish the rest of this glass?"

Elsa hiccuped, then held her breath. Long ago, her father taught her that holding her breath could help to get rid of the hiccups. Maribel laughed at the sight of the queen with such and undignified bubble of air inflating her cheeks.

Without a word, Elsa stood up from the table. Oof. The floor felt unstable, like she was on a boat. How strange. Standing up seemed to make her feel the full effects of the wine. She snatched up her glass of water, spilling a little over the edge.

"Woah there," Maribel rushed over and took the queen's hand. "Here, I'll help you."

Slowly, they teetered up the tall staircase. It was a miracle that the queen didn't trip. Both women were giggling the entire time. Elsa hadn't felt this good since she and Anna were kids, getting into all sorts of trouble together.

In Elsa's room, Maribel threw open the big French doors and stepped out onto the balcony. A chilly draft swept through the room and Maribel shivered. Elsa barely even noticed, except the cold conflicted with the warm feeling that had a solid grip on her.

"How do you deal with the cold? I'm freezing!"

Elsa lurched over to the door and yanked the jacket that she'd gotten out for Maribel off of the hook. She came up behind her as she was enjoying the view and draped it over her shoulder.

"Here, this should be warm."

Maribel smiled, and Elsa grinned. She looked so beautiful. It was hard not to imagine her standing on a pretty beach instead of here, in the mountains.

They both stood in silence while Maribel finished off the last of the wine. After the last drop was gone, her head slumped against Elsa's shoulder.

"Did you get a divorce?" The words tumbled out of Elsa's mouth before she even had a chance to think about what she was saying. She smacked a hand over her lips so hard she winced.

Maribel looked up at her, curious but somehow not really surprised.

"Yes," her gaze shifted back out to the fjord below.

"Why?" Elsa hiccuped again.

There was a pause so long that Elsa almost thought that she wasn't going to answer.

"Our marriage was… opportunistic. Barely one step up from being an arranged marriage.

"I loved that man. We've known each other since we were small, but I wasn't in love with him. I think I could've stayed with him for life, but these past few years he's been so unhappy.

"About a year ago he started seeing someone else. He grew up with this girl as well, and I think we all knew that they were in love. I could tell that he wanted her, and even though it hurt me I told him to go."

There were tears in Maribel's eyes. Elsa reached out and caught one glimmering teardrop on the tip of her finger and froze it into a perfect glittering diamond. The other queen kept talking, like the story had started an avalanche and there was no stopping until they were both knee deep in words.

"Even then we would've stayed together, just for the sake of keeping up appearances. But people on the kingdom were starting to get suspicious of Luis.

I had two choices: stay in a marriage where my kingdom would assume that my king was cheating on me, or get a divorce and salvage what's left of my dignity. I want Luis to truly be happy, so I chose the second option."

Elsa wrapped her friend in a hug. She seemed smaller in the borrowed jacket, her chest concave and shoulders hunched. The story had taken some of the volume out of her aura and spirit.

"I'm sorry, Maribel…"

"Don't be. It's been hard but I think it's the right decision. I don't bear Luis any ill will. We are soul mates of a different kind, we just weren't meant to be lovers."

"I see." Elsa wobbled as they pulled away from each other. Maribel stopped short, so that their foreheads were almost touching.

She smelled so good. A scent that was both familiar and foreign. Elsa could almost taste it.

"Coconut!" Elsa exclaimed, grinning like a fool.

"What's that?" Her breath smelled sweet, like wine.

"You smell like coconut, right?"

"That's right."

Maribel's eyes were big and bright. She there was a slight pink tinge over the bridge of her nose, probably from the alcohol.

Elsa had the odd sensation of drowning, but in the most peaceful way possible. She could've stayed there, frozen in time forever.

"You smell like lavender," Maribel breathed.

Elsa felt the warmth from the small woman's breath curl against her exposed collarbone and she blushed fiercely. She felt her ears freeze solid and her cheeks turn purple. In dismay, she realized that she probably looked like an eggplant.

Maribel chuckled and wrapped her arms around Elsa's neck. For one exhilarating moment, Elsa thought she was going to kiss her. Instead, her lips brushed against the snow queen's cheek and then pressed against her earlobe.

"Your ears are cold, Elsa," Maribel purred in a low, crackling tone.

"Yes, you're right," Elsa said faintly. Her hands slipped from encircling Maribel's back to gently holding her hips.

Maribel pressed herself up against the snow queen. She could feel every curve of Maribel's body through the thin cotton material of her dress.

Elsa felt like she was melting.

"Your ears are cold," she repeated. "Let me know if you ever need help warming them up."

And with that, she turned and walked back into Elsa's room, leaving the queen cradling the empty air.

Maribel left shortly after that. It was half past one, and she was dead tired from traveling. She assured the snow queen that she'd be over in the afternoon to talk business.

Dag was still awake and offered to walk her to the guest cabin. Elsa had a lingering suspicion that Dag just wanted to glean any tidbits of gossip that he could get from Maribel. She had an even worse notion that Dag might _like _Maribel.

_I hope he doesn't know about the divorce, _she thought petulantly.

Elsa gave Maribel a stiff, awkward hug (Dag was staring right at them, for God's sake) and they set off into the night. Elsa stood in the doorway watching her red-clad figure recede and then disappear into the darkness.

Finally, she trudged up to bed with the weariness that only someone who drank too much alcohol for the very first time can have.

Those of the palace staff that had stayed awake tried to dote on her. They warmed her blankets, brought her water, and shut the curtains up tight.

"Did you have a nice night, my Queen?" One of the older housemaids asked kindly.

"I did," she mumbled quietly, still in her suit.

"Would you like me to help you into your dressing gown?"

"No thank you, I appreciate your help but you're free to retire to your quarters for the night."

The maids said their goodbyes and scurried off, knowing full well that they'd been politely dismissed. They'd hoped for more gossip from an Elsa with loose lips, but they were left wanting.

Elsa collapsed into her bed, mind spinning both from the evening and from the wine. As she stared at the ceiling, her thoughts raced. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was Maribel.

_What a peculiar day, _she thought right before darkness slammed down over her consciousness and she was swept into a deep sleep.


	3. Once Upon a Dream

_They were both back on the balcony, Maribel's head resting on Elsa's shoulder once again. She felt hot, even though there were flurries of snow in the air._

"_I'm cold, can we go inside?" Maribel looked absolutely frigid. Her lips were turning blue._

"_Of course!" Elsa ushered her into the bedroom and, with some difficulty, closed the doors. Her body felt drunk, but her mind was clear._

_Maribel shook off Elsa's jacket now that she was in the warmth of the palace. It fell to the floor and revealed that the summer queen was clad in nothing but a short silk robe. The garment was molded to her body in such a way that suggested it was damp. Elsa noticed that Maribel's hair was wet as well._

"_I'm cold," she repeated, untying the sash that had been struggling to keep the robe closed to begin with._

"_Er, perhaps you should put the jacket back on if you're cold…"_

_Elsa reached for the coat on the floor while trying to keep her eyes from sliding up the other woman's figure. She was doing a good job until a hand reached out and grabbed Elsa's wrist. The jacket crumpled back to the ground once again._

_She was pulled to her feet by Maribel, who ran her fingers up the length of Elsa's arms and then down the front of her chest. As goosebumps raised on the ice queen's skin (a sensation she'd only heard about but had never experienced up until this point), Maribel let her robe glide to the floor._

_Elsa froze. Her eyes remained locked on Maribel's face, and she felt her ears get icy cold once more._

_Maribel guided Elsa's hand to her hips, her stomach, her chest. She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips against the ice queen's neck._

"_Why are you so stiff?" Her lips parted and Elsa felt a warm tongue graze her earlobe._

"_You said you were cold," she closed her eyes, but somehow that only served to intensify the feeling of Maribel's nude body against her frozen form. "I wouldn't get that close to me if you're cold," her words trembled._

_Maribel laughed, and scraped a layer of frost off of Elsa's ear with her teeth. _

"_Oh Elsa, the cold never bothered me anyway."_

_At that point, Elsa realized that she, too, was wearing a silk robe. With a crooked finger, Maribel hooked the edge of the fabric and it vanished off of the snow queen's shoulders. _

"_When I'm cold, I've never had trouble getting all warmed up…"_

_Maribel took a step forward and out of reflex, Elsa stepped back. Her legs bumped the edge of her bed, and she allowed Maribel to push her back onto the mountain of pillows. A low moan crawled into the limited space between them._

"_Maribel…"_


	4. Super Secret Sister Time

**A/N:** Hi all, thanks for being patient with me. I've been having laptop troubles, and I'm also participating in NaNoWriMo this month. So things have been hectic. Hope y'all like the new chapter! (P.S. Who got their advance tickets for Frozen II this week? I can't wait!)

"Whatcha dreamin' about?"

Elsa stirred, determined to ride the coattails of her dream into a different dimension if she could. She pulled a pillow over her head. Her brain felt like it was filled with sludge.

"Come onnn, wake up! It's past noon!"

Elsa swatted at the disembodied voice that buzzed in her ear. She could still feel the weight of Maribel on top of her, but it was fading.

There was a muffled giggle.

"Elsa I swear to God, if you don't wake _up-" _The last word was punctuated with Anna diving directly on top of the hungover queen and grabbing the edge of the blanket. There was a brief scuffle before Elsa realized where she was and what was happening.

"Oh- oh my god, _Anna! _Does the word _privacy _mean anything to you?"

Elsa flushed purple and pulled the blanket up to her neck. She'd fallen asleep in her suit, although sometime during the night she'd kicked off most of the pieces and only her rumpled button down shirt remained clinging desperately to her body.

"Sooo, how was your night?" Anna bit her lip to stifle another giggle.

"It was _fine, _I- ow," Elsa pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and winced. What an awful headache she had!

Anna presented her with two pills that she'd been hiding behind her back. She reached over and grabbed the glass of water on Elsa's nightstand.

"Wine'll do that to you. Probably not the best idea to start out with Chardonnay, but at least you didn't bust out Dad's whiskey or anything like that."

Elsa took the pills and washed them down with a gulp of water.

"So, how was it?"

Elsa stared at the blanket.

"I told you, it was fine!"

Anna gave her a couple more seconds to confess something, anything of interest.

"You were moaning her name, you know. I could hear it all the way down the hall."

Elsa's eyes bugged out of her head.

"I'm sure the who palace could hear when you told Maribel to g-"

"_Anna!"_

The two sisters stared at each other. Elsa looked like she was about to pass out, and Anna burst out laughing,

"Oh, come on! It's not like it was some big secret or anything!"

"I assure you, I have no idea what you mean."

Anna's eyebrows shot up so far that Elsa was surprised they didn't take flight right off of her face.

"You wanna hear some more of what you were saying in your sleep, sis?"

Elsa held up a hand and squeezed her eyes shut.

"When I count to three, I'd better open my eyes to find an empty room. One…"

"Seriously? What are we, five?"

"Two…"

Anna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to leave without telling you what Maribel said."

Elsa's eyes flew open.

"Huh? What? What did she say? Tell me!"

"Oh, so _now _you're interested. Right." Anna got up and sauntered over towards the door. "It's okay, you're _clearly _too cool to care, so I'll just -"

"_Anna!" _Elsa tried to compose herself. Her sister knew exactly what buttons to press to get her all riled up. "Please. Please just tell me."

"First, I want to hear you say that you have a big 'ol crush on Maribel."

Her face was so frozen, Elsa was afraid of possibly getting frostbite. Could that even happen to a snow queen?

"I have a crush on Maribel," she mumbled into her pillow.

"Sorry, what was that? What kind of crush?"

"A big 'ol' crush," she huffed, a little louder this time.

"And I want you to admit that you definitely just had a very _interesting _dream about Maribel, one that may or may not have included you getting your-"

"_I had a very interesting dream about Maribel," _She yelled into the pillow.

"And I want you to let me borrow those pretty blue shoes that you got last week." Anna clasped her hands underneath her chin and smiled angelically, batting her eyelashes.

Elsa brushed a couple of snowflakes off of her nose.

"Fine," she sighed.

Anna pumped her fist in triumph.

"_Yesss_ oh you're the best sister I love you so so so much!"

She scrambled into Elsa's bed and made herself at home underneath the blankets.

"It's _Super Sister Secret Time!"_

Super Sister Secret Time was created when Anna and Elsa were kids, mostly because Anna broke one of their mother's antique vases and wanted to confide in Elsa without fear of her tattling. Not that Elsa would've done that. If there was one thing she was good at, it was keeping secrets.

"Anna…" Elsa gave her sister a pleading look. "_Please _don't tell anyone. I-I just -"

Anna made an 'X' motion over her heart.

"Swear on my grave, sis. But like I said, everyone in the castle could see it from a mile away. Last night when I went into the kitchen to steal a piece of Dag's pie, the staff was making bets on whether or not you guys were going to -" Anna paused to grab an imaginary face and passionately make out with it, "right there at the table, or if you'd make it up to the bedroom."

Elsa groaned and wrenched the blanket over her head.

"I'm never leaving this room _again!"_

Anna followed her underneath the covers.

"And how did that work out last time, hmm?" She tossed the blanket off the bed. She was tired of Elsa hiding behind it.

Elsa rubbed her temples and groaned.

"What did she say?" She said softly.

Anna could barely contain her glee.

"Well, Dag said that when he was walking her home, she said that she wished you had asked her to stay the night in the castle."

Elsa nearly fell off the bed. She was speechless, and kind of terrified. Anna giggled.

"You know, like here, in the castle… in your room…" She winked and stuck out her tongue. "...in your bed…"

Elsa didn't even know where to begin. First, she was so rudely awakened and forced to finally confront the fact that she had a "big 'ol crush," and in the same breath she's told that the object of her affection might actually like her back? Where could she even begin?

"So? What's your next move? Are you gonna make all your dreams come true or what?" Anna made an exaggerated kissy face and ran her hands through her own unruly red hair.

"No," Elsa slumped onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling.

"What do you mean, no?!" Anna pouted. "It's so perfect! She's single, you're single, she probably has unresolved trauma from a loveless marriage and you have unresolved trauma from a lifetime of being sequestered away from the outside world and forced deny an intrinsic part of yourself… it's perfect!"

"Anna I can barely talk to people in a normal setting, I don't know the first thing about going on a date! Even less about a date with a -" Elsa snapped her mouth shut. Her throat felt dry.

"Listen, that's what you have me for, dummy! I mean, I don't have any experience going on dates with a badass, tropical goddess-queen hotties either, but I bet it's not _that _hard."

Elsa took a measured breath.

"If I'm going to go on a date with anyone, I should be trying to find a King who can help me rule this kingdom."

Anna stuck her finger down her throat and pretended to vomit.

"Maribel tried that, and look how it turned out. Be serious, Elsa. I think we're all on the same page here, you just don't want to admit it."

Elsa stared at her sister as if she couldn't believe that the redhead was still in her room. She wanted to strangle Anna sometimes (most of the time), but as usual, her sister was right.

"Remember Mikael?"

The snow queen winced at the name. It wasn't completely accurate when Elsa had said that she didn't know the first thing about going on a date. She'd been to a few "meetings" with potential suitors, and none of them had gone very well.

Mikael was from a neighboring kingdom. Both of their kingdoms were rooting for a marriage between the two. It would be beneficial for both countries and the people of Arendelle loved Mikael.

She got along pretty well with him too. He was smart, calm, and refrained from threatening other kingdoms every time a dispute came up. Basically the polar opposite of every other single king that Elsa did business with. They were all so… spoiled? And aggressive. Always starting wars over silly things.

Elsa had started to feel a lot of pressure to strengthen Arendelle, especially since other kingdoms had made it no secret that they couldn't trust the snow queen. A union could earn Arendelle more allies and show that it posed no threat.

Because of this, Elsa and Mikael arranged a meeting. Officially, it was nothing more than a diplomatic visit, but both parties were well aware of the real purpose: to see if they would work well together as a ruling unit.

It hadn't gone so well. She and Mikael had talked for a while, and she was feeling good about the encounter. They'd walked together in the garden discussing the proper technique to implement an embargo when Mikael stopped.

Before Elsa knew what was happening, he'd tried to kiss her on the mouth, out of nowhere. The snow queen had panicked and stepped to the side at the last minute. Mikael fell into a snowdrift, and Elsa ran away. They hadn't seen each other in person since then, and the mail correspondence had been strained.

Instead of strengthening Arendelle, Elsa had done the opposite.

Deep down, Elsa knew that Anna was right. Anything she could've pursued with Mikael would've been a sham. Not just Mikael, but any King.

"What gave it away?" Elsa asked, her voice soft. "How did you know that I, you know, liked her?"

Anna burst out laughing.

"Elsa, I've known for a long time that you liked Maribel. I'm pretty sure that I figured it out before _you _did. Hell, I probably even figured out that you liked girls first! Do you remember that milkmaid?"

Elsa bit her lip.

"No," she lied.

"When we were younger -hmm, I think I was like thirteen, and you had just turned sixteen -Mom and Dad let you answer the door to get the milk from the milkman sometimes. Remember? They said it would be good practice at, I don't know, being normal or whatever," Anna rolled her eyes. They loved Mom and Dad, but after a lot of discussions, both sisters had come to the conclusion that the whole our-daughter-has-ice-powers thing could've been handled a lot better.

"It was usually Leif who delivered the milk, but one day he was busy so he sent his daughter -what was her name? Alexandra or something?"

Elsa had to stop herself from correcting Anna. She knew full well that Leif's daughter was named Andrea, but Anna didn't need to know that.

"I remember the first time she came. You opened the door expecting Leif, and she took you by surprise.

"It was hilarious, you looked like you'd seen a ghost! You nearly dropped the crate of milk bottles when she handed it to you, and it sloshed all over the floor and into your shoes.

"Remember, you helped her clean it up? She was mortified because she'd just spilled the milk on the princesses' shoes -but we all know it was your fault because you got freaked out that there was a hot girl in front of you - and now the princess was cleaning up that mess.

"She was so grateful that you didn't get mad at her that she gave you a hug before she left and I swear I saw your soul leave your body. Come on, look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't like Alexandra?"

"Her name was Andrea…"

Anna snorted.

"Okay, so that answers my question."

Elsa hadn't thought about Andrea in years. Anna's story was a shocking example of how clear everything should've been, and just how dense Elsa had to have been to ignore it.

"When did you know?" Anna smiled encouragingly. "I've always wondered about that."

Elsa felt like the room had suddenly gotten 10 degrees hotter.

"I dream, um, often."

Anna snickered.

"You're doing the thing again. The thing you do around Maribel! The freezing your face thing?" Anna pointed at her sister's nose.

"Shh, I already know! You don't have to rub it in,"

_Damn. I'm really going to have to learn how to stop that, _Elsa thought as she tried to think warm thoughts.

Anna tried to remain nonchalant.

"Well, if you ever need any tips and tricks on making those dreams come true, I can do my best to help you. Like I said, I don't have much experience dating hotties, but since Kristoff is dating a hottie -" she smiled a winning smile and put her hand underneath her chin, "I can just tell you what he does with me. Like he's really great at using his -"

"_Nope! _Nope! We're done here! I don't need sex tips from my sister especially when I'm not even having sex, and I don't know when I'd ever have sex, and -"

At that moment, one of the maids opened the door with a tray of food for Elsa, since she had skipped breakfast that morning. Everyone in the room froze. Elsa squeezed her eyes shut.

Thankfully, Anna was the one to break the silence.

"Good talking to you, sis! I'm gonna go get ready for the day, bye!"

The redhead skipped out of the room as the maid quietly set the tray down, trying to contain her glee. She was going to have the best piece of gossip all week!

Elsa managed to compose herself until she heard the "click" of the door being shut, and then she fell face forward into her pillow and screamed until her voice was hoarse. Partially from embarrassment (she already knew the palace staff was dying to know details about her private life) and partially because Maribel might actually, possibly, maybe like her back.


	5. A Change of Plans

**A/N: How did you guys like Frozen II? I absolutely loved it, and I've already seen it twice. It gave me the inspiration I needed to write this chapter! There's even a nod to the second movie hidden away in here. Can you find it? (It's not a spoiler, though, so don't worry!****) **

* * *

After Anna left her room, Elsa realized with horror that it was already half past noon! She hadn't even taken a bath yet, and the snow queen was almost certain that her breath smelled like sour wine and the lutefisk that they'd eaten for dinner last night.

_What time was she coming? _Elsa thought in a panic as she sprang out of bed. _I think she said 1 pm, but she always shows up -"_

"Early! She's early, Queen Elsa!"

Olga, the same maid from moments before, burst through her door once again. Had her palace staff forgotten how to knock? Goodness!

Elsa struggled to yank back on the dress pants that she'd kicked off sometime during the night.

"Yes, ah, please fetch Anna to visit with Maribel while I'm getting dressed!"

The maid noticed Elsa's untouched breakfast tray and gave her a disapproving glare.

"You really ought to prioritize breakfast, Elsa. You _know _that you get irritable when you don't start your day off with a nice meal -"

"_Please fetch Anna and close the door behind you!"_

The maid huffed indignantly and exited the Queen's quarters. Elsa felt a twinge of guilt for dismissing Olga so rudely, but that exchange was quickly overshadowed by pure terror. How on earth was she going to get ready in five minutes?

She took one look in the mirror and ripped the pants back off. They were wrinkled and had a mysterious looking stain on the crotch. Had she spilled jam on them last night? Did Dag even put out any jam with dinner?

Elsa shook her head, trying to clear away the flurry of irrelevant thoughts.

_Come on, focus! _

The button down shirt went onto the ground with the pants, as it was equally as rumpled and frankly, didn't smell great. She pulled her hair out of the braid that was barely holding itself together. To her horror, it looked even worse now. It was so frizzy and had a weird lump on one side, probably from sleeping on it.

_Oh, god, _she thought, brushing frantically at her long blond hair.

There was Anna's signature _knock, knock, knockknock, knock _on her door. That was a bit strange, as Anna had all but abandoned the idea of boundaries and personal space since the two sisters had been reunited.

"Go away, Anna!" she yelled, pushing away the unpleasant feeling of deja vu.

"Maribel's here!" Anna hollered back.

"I know, Olga just told me and I'll be down as soon as I -"

Anna opened the door a crack and poked her head through, giggling at the sight of her bedraggled sister in underwear.

"No, I mean I have Maribel right here with me!"

Elsa blanched, leaping towards the other side of the room where Anna (and, more importantly, anyone behind Anna) wouldn't be able to see her.

"Anna, just give me a second and I'll be right there!"

Her sister craned her neck around the door to shoot Elsa a pointed look.

"Elsa," the redhead said slowly, "Maribel is having a rough day and I really think she should come in now. Just throw something on and let me open the door!"

It was then that Elsa heard sniffling from out in the hall. Soft voices, most likely belonging to Dag and Olga, murmured hushed consolations.

The snow queen's eyes widened. Anna raised her eyebrows and glanced behind her.

"She needs you right now."

Elsa tossed her hairbrush back on the vanity and snatched a long blue peacoat off the back of the door. Anna retreated and a moment later the door swung all the way open. A tearful Maribel smiled wanly at the other queen.

"Good afternoon, Elsa. I'm sorry I'm starting off the day so poorly…" The tiny woman wiped her eyes and laughed hoarsely while Anna put an arm around her shoulders. "I probably should've just stayed back in the cottage."

"No!" Elsa blurted a bit louder than she meant to. She cleared her throat and continued at a more appropriate volume. "I mean, I you're clearly very upset, and far away from home as well. It's best to be around those who care about you when you're going through a tough time."

Anna smiled and led Maribel over to Elsa, who stood stiffly with a hand outstretched. She tried to give a warm smile but it was more of a grimace, if anything. What was she supposed to do? She was posed for a handshake but she knew that wasn't right. Could she hug her? Should she simply put a comforting hand on her arm? Elsa's instinct was to hug her, but all her life she'd been taught to go against her instincts and so, once again, she was second guessing herself.

Anna barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Why was her sister so dense? She gently pushed the summer queen forward, and Maribel immediately wrapped her arms around Elsa's waist and burst into tears. Elsa hugged her tightly and gave Anna a startled look. The princess grinned and flashed a thumbs up before tip toeing out of the room.

Elsa desperately wanted her sister to stay and maybe coach her on what to do and should she be stroking Maribel's back right now? She made small circles between the crying woman's shoulder blades, just like her mother used to do for her. Hopefully this wasn't weird. It was impossible to be sure.

Luckily, her strategy seemed to be working. Maribel's muffled sobs had quieted and she was now taking deep breaths.

"I-I'm sorry Elsa, I -"

"Don't apologize. Trust me, it's not good to keep things bottled up. That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way."

Maribel pulled away from Elsa's embrace and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Thank you," she took out a handkerchief and blew her nose. "It's just… somehow being away from Luis is even worse than being around him. It's hard not to cling to the chapters of our lives that are already over, I suppose."

"Yes, that's very true. Distance hurts but at the end of the day, it's good to give the soul some space to heal."

Maribel wipes her eyes and gave the snow queen a shy smile.

"You're very wise, Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

Elsa blushed. Hearing Maribel address her by her full title sent shivers down her spine.

"Is there anything in particular that made you feel like this today?"

Marible shook her head. "No, not really. I was going through some junk we had stored in the ship we used to sail here, and I found a few old that belonged to Luis. They still smell like the cologne he always wore."

Her eyes welled up once again and Elsa grabbed the summer queen's warm hands.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, my sister's ex tried to kill her. So, ah, at least there hasn't been any, uh, attempted murder?"

Elsa wanted to drop a giant snowball on her own head. What the hell was that? Why couldn't she just be normal for five seconds?

A look of confusion flashed across Maribel's face, and for a split second Elsa was afraid that the woman was going to get angry. But as her face broke into a wide grin she began to laugh, Elsa breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"You're so weird, you know that?" Maribel giggled.

"I know."

Elsa finally noticed that the other queen was dressed in a plain brown tunic tucked into men's cotton traveling pants. She could hardly believe that Maribel was able to pull off a decidedly masculine farmer's outfit, but she looked adorable.

_She looks like she's about to set off on an exciting adventure quest!_

But, even though Maribel looked so cute it was almost painful, Elsa had to wonder why she had chosen these clothes to come to a business meeting.

While Elsa was puzzling over this, Maribel was also noticing things that she'd missed in the midst of her crying spell.

"Elsa, are you wearing a coat with nothing underneath?" She waggled her eyebrows playfully.

Elsa pulled the coat tighter around her body and was suddenly painfully aware of her long, bare legs.

"Er, I only woke up a few moments before you arrived…"

"And so you sleep in the nude, is what you're telling me?"

Elsa contemplated making a giant icicle that could fall from the ceiling and impale her on the spot. It would take minimal effort.

"No! You see, what happened was that I slept in -"

Maribel laughed again. "Shh! I'm just teasing you, I'll help you find an outfit for our hike." The summer queen looked her up and down once more. "And I'll help you with your hair, too."

Elsa tried to remain nonchalant.

"Oh yes, our hike." _What the hell? When did we agree to go on a hike? _"And where might we be going for this hike?"

Maribel stopped going through Elsa's closet and glanced over her shoulder.

"You don't remember, do you?"

"Memory is a fickle thing, wouldn't you agree? And details are most fickle of all, in the grand scheme of things -"

"Last night on the balcony you said 'To hell with business! I'm gonna resign as Queen and let Anna take over! Or maybe Sven! Forget the meeting tomorrow, let's go hiking instead.'" The tiny queen mimicked Elsa stumbling around holding an imaginary cup. "Oh, and then you threw your wine glass off the balcony and it shattered."

Elsa's cheeks had a thick layer of frost on them.

"I see…" She cleared her throat. "In that case, I suppose I'll need an outfit similar to yours."

Secretly, Elsa had to agree with her drunk alter ego. To hell with business! Going on a one-on-one hike with Maribel sounded much better.

Maribel laid out several options of clothes on the queens bed and grabbed Elsa's brush off the vanity.

"We'd better hurry, you told Anna that we'd meet her and Kristoff by the palace doors in fifteen minutes."

Elsa's excitement dimmed just a fraction. Of course she'd invited her sister. But, her disappointment was quickly forgotten as Maribel started to brush her hair and hum and old folk song from Santa Terazza. Maybe things would work out after all.


	6. Mixed Martial Arts (And Emotions)

**A/N: Sorry for such a long delay everyone, the holidays came and went and then I had to move out of my apartment unexpectedly. (My girlfriend and I broke up, and we lived together.) It's been a rough start to the year, but I want to try to get back into the swing of writing more often. It's one of the things that truly makes me happy.**

**Hope you all like this chapter! I'm thinking of doing an ElsaXHoneymaren one shot inspired by what I just wrote here.**

Elsa trudged ahead of the group, trying to shake a vague feeling that this was all just a bad dream.

"Listen, I don't care how many ice blocks you carry all day, she'd still beat you!"

Maribel was in a heated argument with Kristoff, and the subject was bizarre.

"I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, I swear. I know Elsa can kick some major ass, but I grew up defending myself against hungry wolves and wrestling with rock trolls. Do you know how strong rock trolls are?"

Somehow, they'd started playing an old children's game called "vis-a-vis". The game was simple and quite juvenile: a group of people debated over who would win in a fight. You could compare celebrities, acquaintances, and people who were in the group.

Surprising no one, Anna had suggested that they play this old game. She tended to cling to childish nostalgia that reminded her of a time before the trauma of losing her sister and her parents. Or at least, that's what she said her therapist had told her.

"Okay, sure, you wrestled rock trolls. That's just brute force! Elsa knows all the finer details of combat." Maribel defended the queen vehemently.

For the thousandth time, Elsa wished she could go back in time and stop Anna from telling the group about her military training. Her father, a former soldier, decided to give her hand-to-hand combat lessons every day after Grand Pabbie told the family that "fear will be your enemy." He wanted to teach his daughter how to fight while still concealing her powers.

Elsa went on to study four different styles of martial arts: traditional Arendellian military combat, krav maga, Brazilian ju jitsu, and karate. It was really her only form of exercise since she was not allowed outside the palace gates, and so Elsa had practiced it with vigor. She learned that exercise was one way to release energy and control her powers. There were less "ice incidents" during weeks that she sparred frequently with her father.

The ice queen didn't know that her military training was unusual. She assumed all kids were taught how to shatter someone's wrist with a two-finger maneuver and minimal effort when they were 7 years old.

"I have to agree with Maribel on this one," Anna chimed in. "You've never seen her in action, Kristoff. She's a lean, mean, fighting machine!"

Anna discovered this surprising skill a few months back when she had attempted to sneak into her sister's room to borrow (steal) a pair of pearl earrings. Elsa had woken up, identified a threat, and subdued the intruder all in about 30 seconds.

Luckily the redheaded thief wasn't hurt, but Elsa was horrified. She asked Anna why she hadn't simply performed a basic block to counter her attack and that's when it clicked: most kids weren't taught to execute a perfect bilateral thoracic uppercut with one hand bound to their side.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree!" Kristoff laughed, but still looked a little wounded that his own girlfriend wasn't going to back him up. "I guess we'll never know for sure, because there's no way in hell that Elsa's going to fight me."

"That's right!" the queen called over her shoulder. "This is a violence-free hike."

Elsa sighed as she felt three sets of eyes boring into her back. Thank goodness that Sven and Olaf elected to stay home today. If those two got wind of her talent, Elsa would never hear the end of it. This was bad enough.

At least it was a beautiful day out. The weather was unusually warm for fall, especially right now in the middle of the day. Elsa's silk blue pants and ruffled white button down were an excellent outfit for a fall hike. She smiled as she thought of how Maribel helped pick it out this morning.

The summer queen trotted up to match Elsa's quick pace. Elsa avoided her gaze, eyes drifting upwards to follow the clouds as they scudded by.

"I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable." She said softly. Kristoff and Anna had fallen back a bit, and were now bickering over whether Oaken could beat a famous Scandinavian athlete in a fight.

"What? No, I'm not uncomfortable!" Elsa's cheeks cooled off and betrayed her real feelings. "Well, I guess it's just a bit strange to be the subject of debate, even if it's in a more positive light this time."

"I understand," Maribel said, tilted her head back to look at the same cloud that Elsa was studying. "Maybe not on the same level, but I think a lot of royals can understand. And celebrities, kind of."

Elsa smiled. "I wish people would talk about me like I'm a famous actress that stars in traveling plays. That would be much more fun than the sort of gossip I've heard about myself."

"I don't know about that, I once read in Santa Terazza's newspaper that Penelope Briques was born with a long, furry tail that had to be cut off when she was young. I've never heard anyone say that you had a tail."

Elsa laughed out loud, surprising both women. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, but was still smiling. Penelope Briques was a popular play actress that was known around the globe. Elsa had seen her in a play once, but she must have had a cold or something, because everything she said sounded so nasally. Anna had giggled throughout the entire performance, even though the story was all about grief.

"Maybe I do have a tail," the ice queen said mischievously, raising an eyebrow. She felt a giddy, carefree state of mind take hold and smudge out her insecurities just a bit.

"Maybe you can show me sometime," Maribel's eyes drifted down Elsa's backside. Elsa suddenly didn't know what to do with her arms as she walked. Did they always just hang there like that? That couldn't be natural.

"Anyways, it's too bad," Maribel continued with a sigh. "I can't help but think you'd look incredible during hand-to-hand combat."

In a flash, Elsa had disappeared from the summer queen's side and was heading over to Kristoff and Anna.

"Kristoff," she steadied a tremor in her voice. "Would you like to spar?"

The reindeer king paused mid-speech and blinked in shock.

"Wait, really? You really want to do this?"

Next to him, Anna squealed in delight. "You're gonna get your ass kicked, Kristoff!"

He puffed out his chest and ignored his girlfriend. "All right, I'm ready. You can throw the first punch, if you want -"

He didn't have to tell Elsa twice. King Agnarr had always told Elsa to land the first blow if it was possible. Long-winded speeches during fights were just wasting time.

The ice queen darted forward and plunged her elbow into Kristoff's midriff. To his credit, it felt like she'd elbowed a boulder. Ouch.

Kristoff teetered and Elsa hooked her foot behind his knee. _Wump. _He was flat on his back now.

She planted a foot in the middle of his chest, but before she could put her full weight on Kristoff's body, he managed to grab her arm and drag her off of him. She threw her weight into the fall, rolling once but springing right back onto her feet.

"What the -" Kristoff had barely scrambled to his feet when Elsa rushed at him again. She easily dodged two of his slow, clumsy punches.

_Tsk, _she thought to herself, _he's trying to hit where I am, not where I'm going to be. _

She ducked under one final blow, spun around, and kicked Kristoff in the shoulder. This time, he fell forward and she pinned his arms behind his back. The ice harvester had been bested in under two minutes.

Anna was howling with laughter. Maribel had an odd look on her face, something that Elsa couldn't quite read. A spike of anxiety pierced through the post-fight adrenaline. Had she been too violent? Was Maribel scared of her?

"All right, I get it! You can let me up now!" Kristoff whined from underneath her. "I didn't know you were some kind of karate master, jeez." His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

"Sis, you're such a badass!" She was wiping away tears of mirth when Maribel leaned over and mumbled something in her ear. Anna's mouth made an "o" of surprise, and then she grinned.

"Honey, let's get you all cleaned up! There was a stream behind us a few paces."

Elsa had helped Kristoff back up, and he was brushing the dust off of his pants.

"What? I'm fine, maybe a couple of bruises but I don't need -"

Before he could protest anymore, Anna had grabbed his hand and they were off. Elsa watched as her sister whisked him off through the trees.

"Hmm, that's strange. Although Anna does tend to sneak off with him at inopportune times. One time at my birthday dinner, I walked into the pantry to bring Dag an extra bag of potatoes and caught them -"

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a sharp tug on her wrist and whirled around to find the summer queen standing only centimeters away from her. The tiny woman slid her hands around the taller woman's hips and pulled her in close, grazing her lips across Elsa's pale throat.

"I want you," Her words were hot and dense, the heaviness of such a lustful phrase settling between the two women like a thick fog.

"You do?" Elsa's mind felt like it was a hundred miles away from the current situation, but her body seemed hyper aware of what was going on. She felt a jolt of something powerful course through her veins, something she'd never felt before.

Maribel's gaze raked over the ice queen's body. Took one small step forward, closing the gap between them. Elsa felt warm lips against her neck, a hand drifting down from the small of her back.

"Do you want me too?" Maribel's thigh was pressing between Elsa's legs and she felt like she might pass out.

A light and airy flurry of snow kicked up and started swirling around the two women. It was something of a nervous habit that happened whenever Elsa was feeling particularly emotional.

Maribel started to pull back. Perhaps Elsa's hesitance was starting to worry her, or she was underwhelmed by the other woman's reaction to her bold display of affection.

As she felt Maribel shift backwards, Elsa snapped out of her daze.

"I want you," she breathed, her voice wavering.

And with that, her lips found the summer queen's and the pair became completely enveloped in the misty snow.


End file.
